Ninajirachi, Shady Nasty and More

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New Zealand’s newest local music festival has assembled quite the lineup for its second edition.

Slackbarn #2 will take over the stunning Black Barn Vineyards in Hawke’s bay on Saturday, January 10th, with acts from Aotearoa, Australia, and beyond.

Kate Bollinger will stop by the one-day festival before embarking on her debut Australia and New Zealand tour through January. Having toured internationally with indie folk luminaries like Faye Webster and Devendra Banhart, Bollinger has built a reputation for warm, wistful, and intimate live shows that blur the lines between indie pop, folk, and psychedelic rock.

Local favourites Marlin’s Dreaming will make an appearance, armed with blissful tracks from their latest album, HIRL, which made it into our 50 Best New Zealand Albums of 2024 list.

“With already firm favourites like the previously released “Lucky Star and the stunning collaborative ballad “Earnestly” with Erny Belle, it’s an assured and often beautifully melancholic collection,” we wrote of their stellar record.

Making the trip over from Australia will be live circuit heavyweights and Rolling Stone AU/NZ Future of Music alum The Grogans, who just completed a New Zealand tour, alongside two of the hottest acts in Australasian music: Fred again.. collaborator Shady Nasty and the record-breaking, party-starting Ninajirachi.

The latter producer, another artist we tipped for big things in our Future of Music series, leads the 2025 ARIA Awards nominees with a record eight nominations on her first-ever appearance. She’ll compete for Album of the Year (I Love My Computer), Best Solo Artist, and more awards at the November 19th ceremony.